Nathan Gregory Silvermaster

Who was Nathan Gregory Silvermaster?

Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, an economist with the United States War Production Board during World War II, was the head of a large ring of Communist spies in the U.S. government. It is from him that the FBI Silvermaster File, documenting the Bureau's investigation into Communist penetration of the Federal government during the 1930s and 1940s, takes its name. His wife, Helen and stepson, Anatole Volkov, were members of his ring.

He was identified as a Soviet agent in the WPB operating under the code names Pel, Pal, “Paul” in the Venona decrypts; and as “Robert” both in Venona and independently by defecting Soviet intelligence courier Elizabeth Bentley.